Eclipse of alien planet captured for the first time as dazzling blue ‘hot Jupiter’ passes close to its sun-like star

HD 189733b is 63 light-years from Earth and orbits its star every 2.2 days

It is over 1000°C and rains glass in 7,000 kilometre-per-hour winds

Star may be evaporating atmosphere of planet faster than first thought

Astronomers have, for the first time, detected in X-rays a planet outside our solar system pass in front of its parent star.

The image was taken of a planet in HD 189733- a system which is 63 light-years from Earth – using Nasa’s Chandra X-ray Observatory and the European Space Agency’s XMM Newton Observatory.

Up until now, exoplanets had only been observed passing in front of their parent stars using optical light in a process known as transiting.

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Using Chandra and XMM-Newton, astronomers have detected an exoplanet passing in front of its parent star for the first time in X-rays. The image was taken of the HD 189733 system which contains a Sun-like star orbited by the blue HD 189733b, an exoplanet about the size of Jupiter

‘Thousands of planet candidates have been seen to transit in only optical light,’ said Katja Poppenhaeger of Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics (CfA) in Cambridge, Massachusetts.

‘Finally being able to study one in X-rays is important because it reveals new information about the properties of an exoplanet.’

The planet, known as HD 189733b, is a hot Jupiter, meaning it is similar in size to Jupiter in our solar system but in very close orbit around its star.

It is more than 30 times closer to its star than Earth is to the sun and orbits its star once every 2.2 days.

The planet is a huge gas giant and its atmosphere is scorching, with a temperature of over 1,000°C.

The Chandra X-Ray Observatory is shown in an artist’s rendering. It was used, along with the European Space Agency’s XMM Newton Observatory, to capture the eclipse of the exoplanet

KEY FACTS: HD 189733b

Type: ‘Hot Jupiter’ gas giant

Distance from Earth: 63 light years

Temperature: 1,000°C

Wind speed: 7,000 kilometres per hour

Conditions: Glass particles in the atmosphere give it its dazzling blue colour

Nasa believes it is the closest hot Jupiter to Earth, which makes it a prime target for astronomers who want to learn more about this type of exoplanet and the atmosphere around it.

Last month, the Hubble Space Telescope determined the dazzling blue colour of the alien planet for the first time as a result of the scattering of blue light by silicate particles in its atmosphere.

It found that it rains glass – sideways – in howling 7,000 kilometre-per-hour winds.

The latest observations by Chandra have allowed researchers to learning about how the planet and the star can affect one another.

Astronomers explain the eclipse of the alien planet

This illustration shows HD 189733b, a huge gas giant that orbits very close to its host star HD 189733. The planet’s atmosphere is scorching with a temperature of over 1000 degrees Celsius, and it rains glass, sideways, in howling 7000 kilometer-per-hour winds

Astronomers have known for about a decade ultraviolet and X-ray radiation from the main star in HD 189733 are evaporating the atmosphere of HD 189733b over time.

The authors estimate it is losing 100 million to 600 million kilograms of mass per second.

HD 189733b’s atmosphere appears to be thinning 25 per cent to 65 per cent faster than it would be if the planet’s atmosphere were smaller.

An X-ray image shows the main star (middle). The source in the lower right is the faint companion star. The source at the bottom of the image is a background object not contained in the HD 189733 system

‘The extended atmosphere of this planet makes it a bigger target for high-energy radiation from its star, so more evaporation occurs,’ said co-author Scott Wolk, also of CfA.

The main star in HD 189733 also has a faint red companion, detected for the first time in X-rays with Chandra.

The stars likely formed at the same time, but the main star appears to be 3 billion to 3.5 billion years younger than its companion star because it rotates faster, displays higher levels of magnetic activity and is about 30 times brighter in X-rays than its companion.

‘This star is not acting its age, and having a big planet as a companion may be the explanation,’ said Ms Poppenhaeger.

‘It’s possible this hot Jupiter is keeping the star’s rotation and magnetic activity high because of tidal forces, making it behave in some ways like a much younger star.’

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